Motives

We began our Monday night prayer time a month ago. We are most certainly seeing prayers answered, and that is extremely exciting. One of the consistent requests we have is that God teaches us how to pray and how to cry out. I think the most important thing we need to remember is that God has already told us all we need to know about prayer in His word. I know there are many books out there on the subject, and talking to any person or persons you can get different opinions on any part of prayer, but it is extremely important that our final authority on prayer is God’s word. In talking with different people I have seen some different views on how we should pray, or whether or not a prayer should be repeated. I can see where both sides come from, and I think there may be some truth in either side. I’ve decided that for this post I’m not going to interject my own opinion, but instead I’m going to list the Scripture I’ve come across in my research on prayer. I did after all say that God’s word is the final authority, and I don’t have anything that I can or should add to that.

Matthew 6:5-13: When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Luke 18: 1-8: Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city , and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?

John 14:13, 14: Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (I do want to include what the notes in my Bible said about these verses: In their hour of loss at the departure of Jesus, He comforted them with the means that would provide them with the necessary resources to accomplish their task without His immediate presence which they had come to depend upon. To ask in Jesus’ “name” does not mean to tack such an expression on the end of a prayer as a mere formula. It means: 1) the believer’s prayer should be for His purposes and kingdom and not for selfish reasons; 2) the believer’s prayer should be on the basis of His merits and not any personal merit or worthiness; and 3) the believer’s prayer should be in pursuit of His glory alone.)

Ephesians 6:18: With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…

I’ve talked before about what we pray versus how we pray. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that it matters what our motives are in praying. Every time that we go before God in prayer we need to examine our hearts, and truly prepare ourselves. I think we sometimes forget that when we pray we are going before GOD. Think about that. Yes God provided a way for us to come before Him directly, but He is the God who created the universe. He is the God who has always been and will always be. He is all knowing, ever present and all powerful. He is loving, merciful, gracious, just and faithful. I think many times we tend to get stuck on just one aspect of God and who He is, but when we pray we need to remember all those things. Yes, He says He is our friend…but He is also our Lord and Savior…and the Judge of all eternity. Prayer is not something to be taken lightly, and while we are free to and encouraged to pray at all times I’d hope that we never take it for granted. Prayer is powerful, but only when done with the right motives, and coming from a humble heart.

Distractions and Discouragement

Distractions have been on my mind for a few weeks now. In a world that is increasingly diagnosing individuals with attention deficit disorder, it's very easy to allow life to be one big distraction from our bigger purpose. I've heard others mention distractions recently, so now seems a good time to address that. This past Sunday when I was in Lawton with my family the pastor preached on Paul. His sermon was about the way Paul responded to his circumstances, and how we should follow that example. After Paul turned his life over to Jesus he lived through very difficult circumstances, but he never let that prevent him from doing what God had called him to do. The pastor also quoted someone that said life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond. A few weeks ago I was working on preparations for VBS and trying to get other stuff done and it seemed like everything was going wrong. When I'm tired and really stressed I'm very easily discouraged. However, every single time something else went wrong I thought of James chapter one when it says "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds." I know that in my own life when things aren't going "right" I tend to get so focused on what's wrong that I forget about everything else. At the end of that day, as I was driving home I was reminded of Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." John says that the thief has come to steal, kill and destroy. If we already have a relationship with Jesus then the thief is going to do all the he can to steal our focus and kill our zeal for following the Lord and seeking and living out His will. Instead of being distracted by circumstances, we need to turn to God and rest in what we know of Him and seek to learn more about Him. Oswald Chambers said, "Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself." My focus right now is on God's faithfulness and consistency. He is constantly proving that to me. Even when I am distracted or discouraged because it seems like nothing is going right He is faithful. As we are seeking to know His will and be more like Him I pray that those are some of His traits that are seen in us. That we are faithful and constant. Faithful in our prayer time, not because it's another thing to check off our list, but because we truly want to see God at work. I've realized that self is really the biggest distraction out there. I get so wrapped up in what's going on in my own life, that I forget to pray for my brother or sister, that I forget to just ask them what's going on. Jason has shared a few times Job 42:10 that says, "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before." The greatest commandments in the Bible boil down to loving God and loving people. It doesn't say in there to take care of yourself and then love people. If we are loving God and loving people then the rest will fall into place.

~Lord, I thank you that you are an unchanging God. That the God we read about in the Bible is the same God we can come before today. That we can expect to see you work in the same ways you worked in the Old and New Testament. You are still healing people, delivering people from addictions and sin, and performing other miracles. We should expect no less from you than the apostles did. I pray that others would see that in us. That we are consistently seeking You, and seeking to grow in our relationship with You. That we faithfully show Your love to all we come in contact with. That whether they see us at church on Sunday or Wednesday, or in the grocery store on pay day we are loving You and loving those around us. Don't allow the distractions of life to take our focus from You and prevent us from fulfilling Your purpose. I thank that You remain faithful even when we are not, and that when we get sidetracked You are there waiting for us and welcome us back with open arms.~

The Journey

It has been a little bit of an uphill battle to get this first post written. I sat down to write it last night, and the words just weren't coming to me. That's probably best since it was 1:30 in the morning and at that time I think what I have to say may only make sense to me. I tried again earlier today, and my internet decided to go out. However, since I've had longer to think about what I felt I needed to share I think it's going to come out a bit better. That's usually the way it is with me with writing, I think it through, and when it's time I sit down and write with no problem. Jason asked me to write this as a sort of journal of our journey through our Monday night prayer time. I'm glad he called it a journey, because that's what it is. I think that our time together is going to lead to some stretching and growing for us. I think we forget sometimes that there is a process involved in growth. I don't remember if it was Oswald Chambers or something from "Experiencing God" that talked about God being more concerned about the process than the end result. In today's world we are so used to immediate results and convenience. I mean, we can make rice in the microwave in like five minutes. I was stopped at the light heading north on Kickapoo where it intersects with Independence and I saw someone inside Little Caesar's. They stood at the counter for awhile and then went and stood outside. In my head they placed an order and were waiting for it, I don't know if that is what happened, but that's the story I'm going with. The first thought that entered my head was, "Who actually prefers Little Caesar's pizza?" Little Caesar's doesn't have the best tasting pizza, but people continue to go there because of those hot and ready pizzas that also happen to be rather inexpensive. Sure, somewhere else might have a better tasting better quality pizza, but we'd have to wait. Who does that? I know that's something I forget when I pray. I ask God for something, say patience, and when I don't immediately feel more patient I get frustrated. Ha. God doesn't just give us the thing we pray for, He gives us the opportunity to develop those things. Keep that in mind as we pray, and be looking for those opportunities and remember it's a process, a journey. Things that take time and effort are more meaningful and longer lasting. We have to be willing to go through the process. It may be difficult at times, and we may want to give up, but if we push through it will be so worth it. I don't think we ever stop going through the process, until the day we see Jesus in heaven, but that just gives us something to look forward to.
I know there are a few difficulties I can see, for myself at least. One is the fear of praying out loud in front of others. I've been analyzing this fear (analyzing is what I do), and I'm not entirely sure where it comes from. I tell kids all the time that praying is talking to God just like we talk to anyone else. If I'm going to talk to my friend I don't take them away where no one can hear or even know that we're talking, I just talk to them. I also don't feel any pressure about what to say, it's just a conversation. A lot of people have this misconception that a prayer has to be full of big "church" words and that you must say something spectacular and impressive. That's not what the Bible says though. Jesus gave us an outline of how to pray in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6), and there's the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18) where the man with the humble heartfelt prayer is the one who went home justified before God. I think it matters less what we say or more how we say it and why. It needs to be from the heart and as we feel led. I think another thing will be a willingness to be vulnerable. Whether that means being vulnerable in actually praying out loud, or being vulnerable to admit a struggle or that we need prayer. We have to lay self aside and be willing to try something different if we truly want to grow- and continue in the process. Being vulnerable is scary because that means leaving an opening to be hurt. However, sharing a struggle could be a blessing to someone else who may be experiencing the same thing. Or maybe just realizing they aren't the only one struggling. Admitting we've messed up is the only way to truly fix our mistakes and change our ways. There are plenty of things to be afraid or concerned about, so I close with one of my favorite verses on that subject: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

I know I said I was ending, but I wanted to say one more thing. I can only write about my own thoughts, experiences and feelings as I feel led to share. Please feel free to comment at anytime, or email me if you have a post you would like put up, just send it as a word attachment and I can post it. I can't share with everyone else what process you are going through, so if you feel like you have something to share do not hesitate to do so!!